Feeling confident in English? Want to listen to/watch/play/read more? The following is a list of some media and culture with which I (and people I know) like to engage.
Notes:
1. If there are any dead links, please get in touch (to.twsmith@gmail.com) and I'll try to correct it.
2. The following is simply a list of suggestions and I take no responsibility for any misleading/offensive/inappropriate content. Please be sensible and safe, folks.
3. If you have any appropriate suggestions, let me know!
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Online papers/magazines:
USA Today, The Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post, The Telegraph, The Scotsman, The Irish Times, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, National Review, Time, Reason
Print papers/magazines (with online paywalls):
The Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Spectator
Online-only:
Reuters, AP, Politico EU, Politico US, BuzzFeed Politics, FiveThirtyEight, AllSides
Crash Course (learn about everything from American History to Psychology)
How to Adult (learn the life skills you were too scared to ask about)
Thomas Frank (great study and life tips)
It's Okay to be Smart (fascinating investigations of various topics)
Caspian Report (fantastic international conflict/geopolitics channel)
HowStuffWorks (fun little answers to unique questions)
Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell (profound yet fun videos on some of the most important questions in life)
Nerdwriter1 (deep assessment of popular topics and culture)
CGP Grey (a YouTube classic, dealing with profound questions)
PBS Idea Channel (very philosophical looks at popular culture and internet cultures)
Origin of Everything (the roots of different concepts)
PBS NewsHour (American public news)
NPR (American public radio with a variety of fascinating videos)
Bloomberg (Well-made reports on new technology and business developments around the world)
Business Insider (a variety of news and innovation videos)
Financial Times (business and world affairs)
Wall Street Journal (strong focus on technology and business developments)
Quartz (global issues and technological innovation)
Vox (stylish and well-made videos on a variety of social, political and news topics)
Khan Academy (video series of self-guided learning courses)
BBC Radio 1 (most popular UK music radio with popular songs and interviews)
KEXP (live music in a popular American radio studio)
Frontline PBS (popular American documentaries)
DW Documentary (documentaries on global questions)
Chris Stuckmann (film reviews)
Channel Criswell (cinema and art)
KaptainKristian (very stylish and engaging film analysis)
Every Frame a Painting (amazingly detailed exploration of filmmaking)
Fandor (film focus)
America from Scratch (explains why American society has developed this way and imagines what could be different)
PolyMatter (animated explanations of modern questions)
City Beautiful (urban planning and explaining city design)
Blank on Blank (lovely animations of famous quotations and statements by famous people)
National Geographic (great nature videos)
SciShow (Science explained in engaging ways)
I Contain Multitudes (Science and Nature)
Applied Science (cool scientific experiments)
Verge Science (cutting edge science questions)
BBC Earth Lab (good focus on interesting science questions)
Binging with Babish (popular cooking channel)
Epicurious (foodie channel)
Braincraft (Neuroscientific and psychological questions)
Philosophy Tube (long, detailed explanations of various philosophical questions)
The School of Life (philosopher Alain de Botton's wide-ranging project on exploring our lives)
Academy of Ideas (Philosophy and Psychology)
Errant Signal (analysing video games in a deep way)
Extra Credits (video game design and history with fun animations)
Exploring Alternatives (green lifestyles)
Hot Mess (great explanation of fundamental climate change questions)
Fully Charged (Future cars and technology running on green energy)
Principles by Ray Dalio (life, business and finance advice)
Matt D'Avella (minimalist lifestyles)
Isosine (very talented and professional music mashups)
The Great War (dedicated channel for describing every detail of World War I)
Lindybeige (eccentric but passionate investigator of military history)
Vice (often sensationalist, but always weird, wild and intriguing)
Easier:
More challenging:
Other student-friendly books can be found in lists of "graded readers" like this.
Note: The above books all might require a certain skill. If they are too difficult, you should look at things like the Oxford Bookworms series, especially Levels 3 and above.
It's rare for me (and, I guess, many others) to read a whole non-fiction book from start to end, but here are a few authors whose works really gripped me:
Bill Bryson
Malcolm Gladwell
Robert Harrison
Yuval Noah Harari
The Big Lebowski [Italy:T]
Boyz n the Hood [Italy:T]
The Dark Knight Rises [Italy:T]
Stagecoach [Italy:T]
Chinatown [Italy:T]
A Streetcar Named Desire [Italy:T]
Black Swan [Italy:VM14]
Twin Peaks [Italy:T]
The Wire [Italy: T]
The Sopranos [Italy:VM12]
Breaking Bad [Italy:T]
Plebs [Italy:15+]
Rome [Italy:T]
Stranger Things [UK: 12]
Fargo [Italy:T]
That '70s Show [Italy 12+]
Happy Days (the America of the good old days) [Italy: 12+]
Friends (sorry, but every English speaker knows it) [UK: 12]
Fallout (series) [18+]
Bioshock (series) [18+]
Uncharted (series) [16+]
Mass Effect (series) [18+]
The Legend of Zelda (series) [12+]
The Elder Scrolls (series) [18+]
You can listen to most of these in your browser, on Spotify or iTunes, but I would recommend downloading a podcatcher app like Overcast/Stitcher (iOS/iPhone) or BeyondPod/Podcast Addict (Android) to your phone. Using such an app, you can search for and subscribe to everything very easily.
BBC 6 Minute English (a recommended "easier" start, short and fun for all)
BBC World Service: The Documentary (in-depth, well-researched documentaries from around the world)
Global News Podcast (also from the BBC, this is a more traditional news service as we all know it)
This American Life (the godfather and absolute standard of quality podcasting. Interesting stories and points of view every week)
The Guardian's Audio Long Reads (an audio version of the currently leading long article in the Guardian)
The Guardian Football Weekly (a funny but informative show about world football/soccer)
Planet Money (somehow makes business and economics fun... Seriously, this is a great show)
Up First (the news you need to know from NPR)
Fresh Air (interesting interviews with cultural and societal figures)
All Songs Considered (highly rated music show)
Freakonomics (a truly fascinating show which tries to look at big and small topics in unique ways)
On Point with Tom Ashbrook (famous highly-rated daily news show featuring expert guests and reactions from the public)
TED radio hour (a very-well produced remix of different TED talks and exclusive interviews with speakers to try and tackle a single topic)
WTF with Marc Maron (this guy has interviewed everyone from actors to presidents... Always with lots of swearing and some American-Jewish cynical humour)
Hardcore History (Dan Carlin's flagship series featuring very long episodes which try to bring historical periods and topics alive)
Common Sense (Dan Carlin's infrequent, but worthwhile, political discussions)
Entitled Opinions (very philosophical and complex, but also very rewarding)
Conversations with Tyler (individual long interviews with people who are an expert in a specific field)
Talking Politics (Famous political scientist David Runciman leads panels to talk about UK, US, EU and World politics)
Hidden Brain (a psychological and neuroscience-oriented look at why people act in certain ways)
The Economist Asks (interviews and debates on the magazine's currently discussed topics)
The Week Ahead (by the Economist, a discussion of looming news)
In Our Time (historical and cultural topics discussed by leaders in the field)
More or Less: Behind the Stats (a BBC show which focuses on what statistics we hear/read about are true and which aren't)
Note to Self (an interesting discussion of how we should think and act in modern life)
Thinking Allowed (a largely UK-centered look at society)
Revisionist History (famous writer Malcolm Gladwell takes a look at things we consider normal/simple and discusses why we might be wrong)
S-Town (an incredible, if at times depressing, multi-episode documentary/story following the life and events surrounding an eccentric man in his poor Alabama town)
Radio Lab (unique and interesting stories made with quality radio storytelling skills)
Reddit - useful, not just for the interesting articles, pictures and videos posted, but also for the comments and discussions surrounding each one. Here are some recommended subreddits:
r/changemyview, r/Foodforthought, r/indepthstories, r/NeutralPolitics, r/DepthHub, r/PoliticalDiscussion, r/explainlikeimfive, r/NoStupidQuestions, r/Askreddit
Twitter - a bit of a nightmare for conversations/discussions, but very useful for keeping up with the newspapers/magazines listed above, as well as other interesting posters such as:
Brain Pickings, Propublica, Places Journal, Politifact, Bellingcat, the Hill, euronews, Europe Elects, National Geographic
Newsletters - delivered straight to your email inbox. Here are some interesting ones:
Next Draft (a great 10-point summary and commentary of interesting events and themes)
Austin Kleon's Weekly Newsletter (a more artistic list of original thoughts and fascinating suggestions)
REDEF (a collection of some of the best stories posted online on topics of your choice. I recommend choosing at least "media" but there are others you can combine it with, including "fashion" and "tech")
Also, most newspapers and media services have their own daily/weekly newsletters (e.g. the BBC Newsletter)